The Rugby World cup has kicked off and, as an avid fan, my twitter stream will be full of witty insights (ahem!) and cross chat on the popular #rwc #rwc11 & #rwc2011 hashtags.

However, I want to be sensitive to my regular followers (sweet aren't I?) - some of whom may not give two figs about rugby (it's crazy but true) - surely there is a way to protect them from the barrage of tweets I shall emit when Wales destroy South Africa tomorrow (ahem again!)?

...luckily there is

I've created a new Twitter account called "@chSport" (short for "Channel Sport").

However, this account will NOT tweet; so what is its purpose?

Well, its beauty relies on a quirk of twitter where if I begin a tweet with @chSport then only my followers who *additionally* follow @chSport will see the tweet - so it's sort of like an opt in.

You might ask: "but hey, it's a tall ask to get all folks interested in rugby/sport to follow this?", the answer (& the beauty) is that they don't really have to, you'll see.

So, this is what i'll do (and so can you):

1) prior to the match announce that I'll be using the @chSport channel & my followers can follow the account if they want to see my tweets (follow @chSport sort of "unlocks" those tweets). Obviously my @chSport tweets will still be visible on profile and the searches.

2) I'll prefix the majority of my rugby tweets with @chSport but I'll also add the #rwc, #rwc11 & #rwc2011 hashtags to get the tweet into the correct searches (where all the fun is to be had!)

...and that's it!

The folks who are not interested in rugby (and, therefore have elected NOT to follow @chSport) will be spared my tweets as Shane Williams dazzled with 5 tries against the springboks ;)

If some of my rugby loving followers get the message and follow @chSport they'll see all of my rugby tweets in their timelines - if they don't then they'll see my tweets in the previously mentioned hashtag searches.

Shout out if you any questions...

Ps yes I've tweeted about this concept before but as I'm actually going to use it from tomorrow then I may as well blog again now.

Pps I previously referred to this concept as "shush" accounts; but I think 'channels' makes more sense :)